7 1/2 week old chick the size of a 3- 5 week old chick

[chickenlittle21]

Victoria (I will change her name to Victor if she happens to be a he) is a mauved English orpington that is 7 1/2 weeks old but is the size of a 3- 5 week old chick. I got her as a hatching egg that came as a bonus with appenzellar Spitzhauben hatching eggs. When she hatched she was a normal sized chick. She matured way slower then the appenzellar Spitzhauben chicks and when they were 4 weeks old I moved the appenzellar Spitzhauben chicks to a different brooder but I kept her in the brooder with the 1 day old to 2 week old chicks because she was the same size as them and still needed heat. Anyway, right now she is with a previously bullied male cortunix quail, Bernie and his mate, Ruby and Victoria likes being with them. So why is she so small? Shes not a bantam, I believe. I will post pictures tomorrow.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Pictures would help a ton Can't wait to see them tomorrow!

 

[chickenlittle21]

 

[Harry Frogfish]

I had care of a dwarf easter egger (?) once. Cute little guy (gal?) but he had a crossed beak and a few of the other bits of genetic weirdness that can crop up in the breed when they are tailless. He was the size of a four week chick still at three or four months, had no comb and still cheeped like a baby. Because he was so tiny, he could fly and would greet people by flying out of the pen and landing on their heads.

Hard to say why yours is small, but keeping those tiny ones warm is paramount. we lost Charlie because it got too cold in the coop for him as he apparently wasn't feathered heavily enough to take the cold. I sounds like yours will do well with other birds around and in FL, your winters aren't as bad as ours.

Good luck with your chick!